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狗眼看人低

Mandarin · pinyin gǒu yǎn kàn rén dī

to act like a snob

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Characters in this entry

狗: gǒu · dog, Canis familiaris
眼: yǎn · eye; eyelet, hole, opening
看: kàn · look, see; examine, scrutinize
人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
低: dī · low; to lower, hang, bend, bow

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–3–4–2–1 · gou3 yan3 kan4 ren2 di1

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gau2 ngaan5 hon3 jan4 dai1

Cantonese word readings for 狗眼看人低. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(figurative) to act like a snob; to look down on someone even when one is no better

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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